NASA chief strategist and Economist David Ndii has confessed to smoking a lot of bhang in his youthful years.
Ndii, who started a heated debate on social media by proposing the legalization of marijuana in Kenya, claimed that the drug was non-addictive hence should be available for the general use of the public.
"I was addicted to cigarettes, struggled a lot to quit. I smoked a lot of pot in my youth, never had cravings or withdrawal symptoms. "You’d have to smoke a hell of a lot of pot to get addicted, if at all," he said.
Ndii’s comments came after Kenya Revenue Authority of Kenya intercepted 17 kilograms of marijuana worth 680,000 shillings at the Suam border, a crossing between Kenya and Uganda.
According to the acclaimed Economist cigarettes were more harmful but Governments have legalized its use because of the big companies running them.
Heated debate
"Why is marijuana (non-additive medicinal) illegal and cigarettes (addictive carcinogen) legal. Because ordinary people can roll their own joints, but cigarettes are made by big capitalists, that's why," he claimed.
Ndii's remarks elicited an array of reactions with a section of Kenyans commenting how some First World countries have legalized the drug.
"I read that also the largest pharmaceutical cos are behind its ban and lobbying for non-legalization. The USA has a very progressive leader, Obama even used it,” one Sir Alex Mwenda posted.
However, some rejected the legalization of bhang noting that it was a slippery slope towards the use of more hard-core drugs.
Here are the reactions: